The Politics of the New Orleans Crisis
The Politics of Blame
As soon as it became clear that Katrina had devastated New Orleans, the blame game began. The German critics cried that the disaster was George W. Bush's fault because he had failed to accept the importance of combating global warming. Then critics pointed out that Bush had sought to cut funding that would have bolstered the New Orleans levees that broke (even if Bush had supported the funding, it would have come too late). Now FEMA's slow response time has garnered criticism from many prominent Republicans. Apparently it's time to kick Bush while he's down.
Who should be blamed? Two groups have so far missed their fair share of blame: (a) all of us, for collectively ignoring the federalist component of the Constitution and, relatedly, (b) the politicians of New Orleans.
Our Constitution is built on the premise that the vast majority of power should reside in the states and that the federal government is a government of limited powers, as specified in Article I, Section 8. The federal government's Spending Power has been out of control for quite some time, bolstered by the exercise of its power to impose an income tax under the 16th Amendment, ratified in 1913. The trend has been for the states to look more and more to the federal government to provide financial assistance for a variety of local concerns.
The problem is that Washington, D.C. is far removed from the people of New Orleans. Money for levee construction in New Orleans must compete with pet projects all across the country. Any number of political considerations in D.C. result in the anomaly that funding for a bridge in Alaska that will benefit 8,000 people takes precedence over the safety of hundreds of thousands of people in Louisiana. The people of New Orleans are the mercy of congresspeople who represent the interests of their home states.
New Orleans politicians-- perhaps political forces of the past more so than the current ones --are also at fault. New Orleans permitted building in areas below sea level and then, in hindsight at least, failed to protect those areas from massive flooding. Call it a reverse unfunded mandate. New Orleans permitted development in risky areas, and then believed it was entitled to federal assistance. After the disaster, an emotional New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin told the feds to "get off your asses and do something, and let's fix the biggest goddamn crisis in the history of this country." Nagin self-righteously condemns slow action from the federal bureaucracy, but he must share in some of the blame for the crisis.
Who should be blamed? Two groups have so far missed their fair share of blame: (a) all of us, for collectively ignoring the federalist component of the Constitution and, relatedly, (b) the politicians of New Orleans.
Our Constitution is built on the premise that the vast majority of power should reside in the states and that the federal government is a government of limited powers, as specified in Article I, Section 8. The federal government's Spending Power has been out of control for quite some time, bolstered by the exercise of its power to impose an income tax under the 16th Amendment, ratified in 1913. The trend has been for the states to look more and more to the federal government to provide financial assistance for a variety of local concerns.
The problem is that Washington, D.C. is far removed from the people of New Orleans. Money for levee construction in New Orleans must compete with pet projects all across the country. Any number of political considerations in D.C. result in the anomaly that funding for a bridge in Alaska that will benefit 8,000 people takes precedence over the safety of hundreds of thousands of people in Louisiana. The people of New Orleans are the mercy of congresspeople who represent the interests of their home states.
New Orleans politicians-- perhaps political forces of the past more so than the current ones --are also at fault. New Orleans permitted building in areas below sea level and then, in hindsight at least, failed to protect those areas from massive flooding. Call it a reverse unfunded mandate. New Orleans permitted development in risky areas, and then believed it was entitled to federal assistance. After the disaster, an emotional New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin told the feds to "get off your asses and do something, and let's fix the biggest goddamn crisis in the history of this country." Nagin self-righteously condemns slow action from the federal bureaucracy, but he must share in some of the blame for the crisis.
Bill Clinton v. Dennis Hastert"It looks like a lot of that place could be bulldozed," Republican Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert said in an interview about New Orleans on Wednesday. Hastert conceded that the people of New Orleans would rebuild their city, but noted that there are "some real tough questions to ask. How do you go about rebuilding this city? What precautions do you take?" He questioned whether it made sense to spend billions rebuilding a city that lies below sea level.
Hastert's statements drew sharp criticism from New Orleans politicians. Although Hastert raised important considerations, the timing was definitely off. The body count has not even been announced. However, when told of Hastert's comments, Bill Clinton's reaction was thuggish. Had they been in the same place when the remarks were made, Clinton said, "I'm afraid I would have assaulted him." Clinton's impulse control issues with young women are a matter of legal record, but perhaps now propensity for violence should be added to the list.
Update 9/4/05:
School Buses Not Deployed by Mayor Nagin
Word now is that Mayor Nagin failed to utilize school buses to evacuate residents; now those buses lie useless and likely damaged by water. Drudge Report quotes a Loui
siana disaster plan as stating: "The primary means of hurricane evacuation will be personal vehicles. School and municipal buses, government-owned vehicles and vehicles provided by volunteer agencies may be used to provide transportation for individuals who lack transportation and require assistance in evacuating." Mayor Nagin chastized the federal government for its slow response possibly to direct attention away from his own shortcomings.
siana disaster plan as stating: "The primary means of hurricane evacuation will be personal vehicles. School and municipal buses, government-owned vehicles and vehicles provided by volunteer agencies may be used to provide transportation for individuals who lack transportation and require assistance in evacuating." Mayor Nagin chastized the federal government for its slow response possibly to direct attention away from his own shortcomings.
posted by The Libertarian Republican at 5:10 PM
7 Comments:
nice blog. I like what im seeing here.
Katrina will herald the end of the rights of states under the US Constitution. From now on they will turn to DC for everything. I fear the entitlement and victim mentality has finally ended the Republic of our forefathers.
notr- The states already do turn to DC for everything.
That is one reason why Blanca and Nagin failed the victims of Katrina so miserably. They did hardly anything before or after Katrina without being pushed by the fed.
You guys have it all wrong its not the President thats taking a beating its your flawed Idiology thats going down and yes conservative idiology is what is to blame it has weaked our country to the point that it cannot cope with disaster and protect its own citizens because it inheirently creates poor people, ignores global warming and cares only for money and profit in its beligerent and egocentric grab for power. well get this because of your flawed energy policies in about three weeks everything is going to cost twice as much due to our dependancy on oil. The Party is over the Right wing social experiment has failed ...miserably...and the red threat will receed. undoubtably some of you will try to hold on to what you have believed in like alcholics in denial because the truth hurts.
Ya, libertarian principles certainly helped in the evacuation of New Orleans. You are an idiot, and so is every other fucking libertarian. If you hate government so much, stop using fucking roads, don't send your kids to public schools, don't use the post office, don't go to public parks and beaches, etc. You are an idiot who feigns intelligence simply because they ad pictures on their blog. You are pathetic.
The Bush Administration continued to propose budget cuts for the Army Corps of Engineers (they were responsible for the levees) and FEMA. This abdication of their responsibility cannot be denied.
Blaming it on local officials is par for the course for an administration which continually blames others for their mistakes.
When push come to shove, tax cuts for the rich and the war in Iraq are to blame for misappropriating national resources from vital projects like the levees.
Strangely, "anonymous" #2, the Bush administration has allocated more for levee upkeep than the Clinton administration did.
Additionally, the ultimate responsibility for the evacuation of the people of New Orleans lies with the state and local governments. Blanco was even caught on tape saying that she should have asked for the National Guard to come in sooner, but didn't want to because they would put "a lot of good people in jail." And what of the school and municipal buses which were supposed to be used to evacuate citizens with no means of evacuating themselves (which is something you can find on the website of the city of N.O.), but they sat and were destroyed.
As for conservative/ liberarian ideology resulting in poverty, liberal/ socialist/ leftist ideology contributes far more because a) it creates a victim mentality, b) it promotes an entitlement mentality, and c) it seeks not to make people equal at the high end of the spectrum, but on the bottom rungs, i.e., rather than helping the poor get out of poverty, the solution is making the rich poor.
In short, there was not one original idea in your comment, and that is perhaps the worst thing about liberalism. It's a one-note tune.
Interestingly, for a party that's over, we're doing quite well, what with the majority in both houses of Congress, control of the White House, and the majority of governorships in the nation. If this is failure, I quite like it!
Oh, and it's spelled "ideology," not "idiology."
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